Automatic punching-machine.



PATENTED NOV. 21, 1905. 0. J. GADD & 1). J. JENKINS.

AUTOMATIG PUNGHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAILZG, 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES J. GADD AND DAVID J. JENKINS, OF STEELTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

AUTOMATIC PU NCHlNG-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 21, 1905.

Application filed March 26, 1904. Serial No. 200,126-

T 0 all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that we, Oi-rARLns J. GADD, a subject of the Kingof GreatBritain, and DA- v11) J. JENKINS, a citizen of the United States, bothresidents of Steelton, Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Punching- Machines, ofwhich the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in automatic punching-machines;and the object of our invention is to furnish a machine forautomatically and accurately punching a series of holes in a piece ofmetal in a straight line at such distances apart as may be desired.

Our invention consists of a reciprocating punch, a gag by means of whichsaid punch may be put into or out of operation, means for feeding themetal to be punched to said punch, and electrically-operated means forputting said gag and said punch into or out of operation.

In the accompanying drawings,forming part of this specification,and inwhich similar characters of reference indicate similar parts throughoutthe several views, Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, ofour improved punching: machine shown diagrammatically; Fig. 2, an endelevation of the means for carrying and driving the pattern from whichthe movements of the punch are dictated; Fig. 3, a plan of pattern fordictating movements of punch; Figs. i and 5, longitudinal centralsectional elevations through two forms of punch-movement-dictatingpatterns.

a is a punch-carrying head which receives a reciprocating motion throughany suitable form of mechanism.

In the drawings, 6 is a hydraulic cylinder carrying the usual piston towhich the head a is attached or of which it forms part; but any othersuitable form of apparatus for carrying and actuating this head may beemployed.

cis the punch which is carried by the head a.

d is a gag carried by a head a. This gag is furnished with a perforatione, which when the gag is in one position permits the passage of thepunch and in another position engages and holds the head of the punch.

f is a solenoid-magnet the core of which is attached to or forms part ofthe gag cl.

g is a part of the gag which carries a head it.

t' is a spring bearing against head it and the punch-carrying head a,which operates to return the gag (Z to its normal position after havingbeen operated upon by the solenoid f.

j is the die under punch 0; Z), a piece of metal to be punched; Z,rollers for carrying the metal k.

m is a table carried by, carrying, or forming part of a rack 77/, 0, apinion for driving rack 71; p, the shaft which carries pinion 0.

r is a rachet-wheel fast to shaft s is a pawl engaging ratchet 1,- zf, abellcrank, to one end of which pawl s is attached; it, a rod connectingthe other end of bellcrank it and one end of a bell-crank o, the otherend of which is attached to or operated by the movements of thepunch-carrying head a.

l is a tape or pattern through which the movements of the solenoid f andof the gag (Z and of the punch c are directed. This tape may be of aninsulating material carrying metal or other contact-points 2, as shownin Fig. i, or it may be furnished with perforations 3, Fig. 5, throughwhich the insulated contact-point 4, Fig. 2, carried by frame 5, maypass. The pointd is connected electrically with one pole of the solenoidby a wire 6, for instance, and the frame 5 is electrically connectedthrough a wire 7, for instance, with the other pole of thesolenoid, theframe 5 and the tape 1 or the points 2 carried by this tape beingconnected electrically to any suitable source of electrical supply. Therack n is connected in any suitable manner through a chain 8 and clamp9, for instance, with the plate The contact-points 2 or 3, carried bythe tape 1, are spaced as are to be the holes desired in the plate 7d,each contact-point representing one hole in the plate. The contactpointsmay be placed as far apart as are the holes, or they may be fartherapartor closer together; but the tape must be so moved in relation tothe plate that at each contact of one of these points with point 4: ahole will be punched in the plate by the punch 0, the holes beingpunched according to the relative movements of thetape or plate.

The operation of the device is as follows: The head a is constantlyreciprocated. Upon its movement in one direction the bell-crank 'u isoperated to draw the connection a over to cause the bell-crank t toraise the pawl s,

which turns the ratchet a, which is fast to,

shaft 29, which carries pinion 0, which gears with and drives the rack12/. By the mechanism described the rack 72, is intermittently advanced,and with it the sheet of metal 7': to be punched. So long as thecontact-point 4: is out of engagement with one of the contactpointscarried by the tape 1 the solenoid f is inert and the gag (Z is in theposition shown in Fig. 1tha't is, the hole a in the gag is directly overthe punch, and when the punch engages the plate it is pushed up intothis hole, making no impression on the plate. As soon, however, as thecontact-point 4 engages one of the contacts on the tape current isthrown into the solenoid, the core of which is thereby drawn out, andthe gag is moved so as to block the upward movement of the punch. Adownward movement of the punch new results in a hole being punched inthe plate. As soon as the contacts t and those on the tape aredisconnected the solenoid becomes inert and the spring 7; returns thegag to its first or normal position. Of course this action might bereversed, the solenoid acting to draw the gag into position to pass thepunch and the spring to draw the holeo in the gag to one side of thehead of the punch. This arrangement would necessitate a correspondingchange in the tape lthat is, the points 2 would be insulated, while therest 0} the tape would be in electrical contact with the point 4. Itwill be observed that after the plate 7': is set so that the punch 0will punch the first hole accurately the following holes will be punchedexactly as may be dictated by thecontact or insulated points 2 on thetape 1, the tape taking the place of the usual templet, so far as thespacing of the holes is concerned, and in addition serving to direct themovements of the punch and of the plate.

It has been thought sufficient to illustrate in this application but asingle punch. in

practice any number of punches may be used, the movements of one, two,or more of which may be controlled through a single tape or themovements of each separate punch may be controlled by a separate tape.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent 1. In a punching-machine, in combination, areciprocating head, a punch loosely carried by said head, a gag carriedby said head by means of which said punch may be operatively connectedor disconnected with said head, electrically-operated means foroperating said gag, a table, means operated by the movements of saidhead for intermittently driving said table, a connection between saidtable and the metal to be punched, a tape or templet having alternately-spaced electricallyenergized and inert points carried by said table,and an electric contact-point, connected with the electrically-operatedgag mechanism, adapted to be alternately energized and deenergized bycontact with the points upon said tape or templet.

2. In a punching-machine, in combination, a reciprocating head, a punchloosely carried by said head, a gag carried by said head by means ofwhich said punch may be operatively connected or disconnected with saidhead, a solenoid for operating said gag in one direction, a spring foroperating said gag in the other direction, a rack, a pinion for drivingsaid rack, means operated by the movements of said head forintermittently driving said pinion and rack, a connection between saidrack and the metal to be punched, a tape or templet havingalternately-spaced electrically-energized and inert points carried bysaid rack, and an electrical contact-point, connected with saidsolenoid, adapted to be alternately energized and deenergized by contactwith the points upon said tape or temp et.

CHARLES J. GADD. DAVID J. JENKINS.

\Vitnesses:

ALBERT B. SMITH, CHARLES A. BUTTER.

